HPE 91 – March 2019 | Page 6

EDITORIAL What will become of medicines supplies in Brexit Britain? It feels as though all anybody in the UK has been talking about for the past two-and-a-half years is Brexit. Everything has been discussed; from how Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) will affect transport and farming to research and, importantly, medicines supply. The unfortunate thing is that we are still no closer to finding out just how all of these important facets of life will be affected than we were at the time of the Brexit vote, such is the UK Government’s complete inability to come to any sort of agreement with Brussels. Naturally, that the terms of Brexit are – at the time of writing – so unclear makes planning for anything after 29 March, the day that Britain is due to leave the EU, somewhat difficult. Perhaps the most frustrating example of this lies in the Government’s plans for ensuring an adequate medicines supply after Brexit. True, the Government is set to spend a cool £11m on warehouse contracts (turn to page nine for more) to store contingency medicines in a no-deal situation – a precaution that will likely be a source of comfort to pharmacists concerned that Brexit could make shortages even more severe. But it’s becoming all too clear that these extreme measures may be necessary if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal, with manufacturers being advised to find alternative shipping routes for their drugs due to ‘at least’ six months of cargo disruptions expected at the English Channel (turn to page eight). Of course, it’s important to note that at this point we are still unsure what Brexit will look like and consequently how it will affect the supply chain. But it’s this not knowing that leaves pharmacists in the place they are today – teetering at the edge of the Brexit precipice with no idea how the political situation will affect medicines shortages in the months and years to come. Naturally, all of this ambiguity makes it incredibly difficult for pharmacists to plan for how they can mitigate Brexit shortages. Better the devil you know, as they say. It’s high time that the Government took initiative on this Brexit debacle. To help you keep up-to-date, we at Hospital Pharmacy Europe will continue to bring you all the latest Brexit news. Pharmacists are at the brink of the Brexit precipice Beth Kennedy Editor-in-chief Group Editor Gemma Collins Editor-in-chief Beth Kennedy Content Director: Secondary Care Andrea Porter Art Director James Depree Freelance Art Editor Steve Powell Sales enquiries Greg Damalis T [phone] E [email protected] Editorial Advisory Board Tiene Bauters PhD PharmD Belgium Bruce Burnett MRPharmS MMedSci UK Anna Carollo PharmD PhD MS Italy Mikael Daouphars PharmD PhD France Olga Delgado Sanchez PharmD Spain Oweikumo Eradiri PhD FRSPH FFRPS UK David Hellens MPharm PgDip IPresc UK Martin J Hug PhD Germany Nadia Naous MPharm UK Michael Scott BSc PhD FPSNI UK María José Tamés PhD Spain Marta Trojniak PharmD MPH Italy Subscription enquiries Bianca Pettifor T [phone] E [email protected] Subscription rates UK Personal subscriptions £75, Institutions £150; Outside UK €160 (personal subscriptions) or €275 (institutions); Back issues/ single copies (each) £30 (€50) Copyright © Cogora Limited 2019. The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or editorial advisors. While the publisher and editorial advisors have taken every care with regard to accuracy of editorial and advertisement contributions, they cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions contained therein. Published in the United Kingdom by Cogora Limited, 140 London Wall, London EC2Y 5DN, UK. T [phone] F [phone] E [email protected] W cogora.com 6 | Issue 91 | 2019 | hospitalpharmacyeurope.com